All You Did Was Save My Life
by A Beautiful Oblivion
Summary: Adam works up the nerve to ask out Stella. The trouble is, she already has a boyfriend. And the date is going to go much worse then either of them could've imagined. Fiesta & Stella/Adam. Rated T for language. WARNING: Character injury/ maybe death.
1. Chapter 1

**Summary: Adam works up the nerve to ask out Stella. The trouble is, she already has a boyfriend. And the date is going to go much worse then either of them could've imagined.**

**Let me know what you think; review!!**

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Adam looked wistfully at Stella and Flack, flirting with each other big time. He glanced down at the trace he was supposed to be analyzing, but his eyes slid back up to the two of them. He sighed and forced himself to look away. He managed to stay focused enough to place the trace on a slide and put it under the microscope, but, in spite of himself, he looked up at where Stella and Flack were standing... well, _supposed _to be standing. When his eyes were drawn to the magnets that were them, they had disappeared.

"Hey Adam!"

He shot about a foot off his chair. He jumped to his feet and whirled around to see Flack and Stella standing behind him, giggling to each other. Adam went tomato red. Oh, this is great. Just fucking _fantastic_. Why did he always have to make a fool of himself in front of her? He tried to stutter out a greeting, but she cut him off.

"How's that trace coming?" she asked, obviously wanting him to just spit it out so she could go back to flirting with her fucking _boyfriend_. Ever since they had starting dating, they spent all of their time with each other. It's like they were joined at the hip or something.

"Well... I'm not quite done with it yet..." he muttered. Flack whispered something in Stella's ear and they both collapsed in a fit of giggles. Adam's face, having almost returned to its normal colour, went, if it was even possible, a deeper shade of red than had been moments before.

Stella, who finally seemed to stop laughing, said, "Well just let me know when you're..." Flack nudged her, and that was all it took. She dissolved into giggles again. At least he was alone in the lab, where no one else could hear the two children standing in front of him, giggling like schoolgirls.

"Done," Stella managed to gasp between fits of laughter. She turned and walked off, still giggling with Flack. Adam turned back to the microscope, sat down, and trying not to think about what had happened, settled back into the place he loved most in the world: an empty lab, just him and the computers.

* * *

At the end of the day, when Adam was attempting to hail a cab back to his apartment, he saw the two lovebirds, not even bothering to hail a cab because of end-of-the-workday traffic, walking out the door. They turned left, holding hands, and continued down the street. He knew they weren't walking to each others houses, because Stella lived in the opposite direction. _You have fun fucking her, you bastard, _he thought bitterly.

_

* * *

_

The next day, Stella arrived late for work. And for once, she arrived alone. Flack wasn't anywhere in sight. _Good for you, _Adam thought. _You finally dumped him. Now I might have a chance..._

He had always had a little bit of a crush on her, he just never had the guts to tell her. And then after she started dating Flack, he knew he would ever be with her. Flack was _Detective _Flack, NYPD. And he was Adam Ross, Lab Tech. He couldn't compare to a Detective. It had always been his best kept secret, ever since he had laid eyes on her. But not anymore. Today was the day he was going to tell her how he felt. Screw what everyone else thought. Screw Flack. The only thing he cared about was her.

The only problem was figuring out what he would say. He had come up with about 14 different ways he could tell her, but none of them seemed right. Should he just come out and tell her, or should he drag it out and look like an idiot? Okay, so that second one wasn't his greatest idea ever, but he needed _something _to say. He'd probably just make a fool of himself again, but today was the only chance he was going to get. What should he say? Stella Bonasera, I love you? That sounded pretty good, short and simple.

_Today was the day_! He strode right up to her, coincidentally she was alone. He was about to say his perfectly rehearsed... 5 words, but as he called her name, she looked at him with those piercing green eyes, and he melted into a puddle. He couldn't do it. Not now. God, he was such a wuss, but he just couldn't do it.

"Yes, Adam?" Stella looked intently at him. Her eyes looked like they were staring right through his eyes into his soul. Adam gulped. He searched his brain for those words he wanted to say, but couldn't quite grasp onto them. The longer he stood there, saying nothing, the more he looked like a complete moron, so he settled for small talk instead, asking about the one person he didn't want to talk about.

"So... where's Flack?" he asked. _Stupid, stupid, stupid, _was running through his mind over and over again. Either she was going to start crying, or she was going to make him cry. Two things happen with woman who have been dumped: they lash out at you, or they break down and start crying. Adam _really _hoped it was the latter; he really didn't want to cry in front of her.

"He's sick," she said. Good so far, no crying. So maybe they hadn't broken up. Damn. He was _so _looking forward to seeing Flack cry. "Just the flu, you know," Stella continued. "He should be up and about in a few days."

This was better than he'd hoped for. A few days to confess his biggest secret. But his mouth seemed to work on its own. "You wanna go out sometime?" he blurted out. Shit, shit _shit_. Once his brain had caught up to what his mouth wanted to do, he looked up at her. She was waiting for him to continue. "You know... to have dinner? Or... or something," he muttered. He didn't want to look at her anymore, so he stared down at his sneakers. He was _so _fired. And that was the least of his worries. He'd never be able to ask anyone out ever again...

"Sure." He heard a distant voice, and looked up, startled. Did she just say yes? "Did you just say yes?" he asked, trying to grasp the situation.

She shrugged. "Yep. It wouldn't hurt for two colleagues to have a nice dinner together after a long day at work." She smiled, looking at him. With a start, he realized she was waiting for him to speak.

"Should I pick you up at seven? We can go to a restaurantthat's a favourite of mine. Or... wherever you want to go." To his delight, she nodded, said "See you at seven," and walked off. Adam walked off, too, walking on air. Today was turning out to be the best day of his life.

He went into the bathroom, not noticing the sign on the door. He saw Lindsay in the bathroom, washing her hands in the sink. _I wonder what she's doing in the boys bathroom, _a little voice in his head said. Lindsay repeated his question, except she changed one little word; the word _boy_.

_Oh God no,_ he thought. His eyes darted frantically around the room, looking for the urinals that weren't there. Just stalls. Lots and lots of stalls. He turned deep red for the third time in two days, muttered an apology, and left a giggling Lindsay in the woman's bathroom.

* * *

That night, at 6:45, Adam still hadn't decided what he was going to wear. When he got home that night after work, he took a shower, took a good half hour trying to decide what cologne to wear- he decided on Chocolate Axe- and now, here he was standing in front of his mirror, putting clothes in front of him, trying to decide. In the end he chose the same kind of style he wore at work. Jeans, sneakers, and a t-shirt. It wasn't much, but hopefully it was enough to impress Stella; he hoped it was better than the jacket and tie Flack usually wore. He glanced at the clock as he grabbed his keys and dashed out the door- 6:50. It would take him at least half an hour to get to Stella's apartment, if traffic was like any other day in New York.

In the cab, he decided to call Stella, tell her he was going to be late. It went to voice mail.

"Hey, Stella, I'm running a little late. Traffic is murder. See you in ten minutes," he said to the phone. When he hung up, he checked the time on his phone. 7:05. Maybe he wasn't going to be that late. Now that he looked out the window, there weren't as many cars as usual on the streets of New York City.

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When Adam arrived at Stella's apartment, it was quiet in her building. When he had been there before, there was always some kind of noise going on. Kind of strange.

He knocked three times, in rapid succession. The rhythm he knocked with was how fast his heart was going. He put his index and middle finger against his jugular and looked at his watch. But before he could get to five seconds, Stella's door swung open, the Greek goddess herself- er, detective- standing in the doorway, wearing a black dress down to her knees. Adam jumped and turned red- fourth time in two days- and stammered out a greeting.

She smiled, showing her perfectly straight, white teeth. Adam ran his tongue over his own teeth. Shit! He knew he'd forgotten to do something when he left his apartment. He forgot to brush his teeth. Well, Stella _had _said it was just two colleagues having dinner together, so there probably wasn't going to be any kissing tonight. He was stupid for even thinking that. She _did _have a boyfriend after all.

"So," Stella cut in. "Where are we going, anyway?"

"Well," Adam began. "It's a restaurant owned by a friend of mine. It's kind of like a bar, but there's a restaurant." He didn't want to tell her what it was called, he felt stupid just saying it. Hopefully she wouldn't ask. And she didn't. She just smiled and started to walk towards the elevators, Adam hurrying behind her to catch up.

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**Well... how was that? Please review and tell me how you liked it!**


	2. Chapter 2

It was a very quiet- and awkward- taxi ride. About twenty words in total were spoken in the cab, including when Adam told the driver the address of his friend's restaurant. It was located in a very quiet part of town, in the suburbs; his friend had the restaurant on the bottom floor of his own house. Adam had spent a lot of nights there, working as a bartender, but not because he needed money. It was because he felt like he belonged there, and he loved talking to the people at the bar.

On the way there, it started to rain. At first it was a few drops here, and a few drops there, not even enough for the cabbie to turn on his wipers. Then, the sky opened up and it transformed into a downpour. The driver hurriedly turned on his wipers, he couldn't even see out the windshield without them on. Luckily there wasn't many cars on the way there. When they had left the busy part of town, they passed about eight cars.

"Must be Hurricane Bill," Adam said to Stella over the pounding rain. She just nodded, and might have said something, but if she had, there was no way he'd be able to hear it; the rain was just too loud. Stella was staring out the window, looking at the rain falling. He wished he could know what she was thinking.

He looked at the rain, too. The wind was blowing right at them, so most of the rain hit the front window, and there was a surprisingly small amount of water on his window. He tried to count the raindrops on his window, but they moved too fast. More kept falling on the glass, and more just rolled right off onto the door of the taxi, so he couldn't see them anymore. He gave up on counting the rain, and instead focused on the world beyond the window. He tried to recognize where they were. If they were going to go the same speed as they were now, they would get there in about two minutes. As that thought entered his mind, the driver slowed.

"I can't see a thing," The driver said. "Could you point out the house for me?" He'd slowed to fifteen **(miles)**; there was just too much rain to be going the speed limit.

Doesn't he have a GPS? Adam looked at the dashboard. There was one, but there was some blinking text on it. He squinted and leaned forward a bit; it was really small. _Lost satellite reception,_ it read. He sighed. "Sure," he answered the driver. "Just keep driving for a bit, then I'll show you where it is."

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When they arrived, Adam cursed himself for not bringing a jacket. Neither he not Stella had thought to bring one, it was August in New York, and the forecast never called for rain. _But, _he couldn't help thinking, _If she was here with Flack, then he would be wearing a suit, which comes with a jacket, so he'd be able to give it to her when it rained. _He sighed. He _had _to stop feeling sorry for himself. He should just be happy for the fact that he was here, with Stella, and nothing horrible had gone wrong yet.

Luckily, the driver had pulled right up to the front of the building, parking so the car was parallel to the road, and in between the road and the sidewalk. Since Stella was on the passenger side, she got out first. She opened the door, and instantly was soaked. Rain blew into the cab, drenching Adam as well. She jumped out, hiding for cover under a small, newly planted sapling about seven feet tall on the side of the road.

Adam tried to look up at the neon sign on the top of the building stating the restaurant's name, but the rain was just too heavy. There was no way of knowing if he had even picked the right house. Oh well, Stella was getting wetter by the minute and he was supposed to be looking after her. He got out of the taxi quickly, closing the door. He and Stella ran to the door for cover.

They entered the restaurant. Adam breathed a sigh of relief when he saw it was the right restaurant. It wasn't a big place, but very homey. When you walked in the door, there was an isle running down the length of the restaurant up to the bar, where it opened up with two pool tables on either side of the aisle. Next to the womens' washroom, around the corner from the kitchen on the left, there were three game machines: Pac Man, Golden Tee Golf, and Bowling. The Pac Man machine's screen was black. It had been like that for at least a year and a half.

On the left side of the aisle, closer to the door than the game machines and womens' washroom were about five tables, four to eight chairs around each. Even further left were some booths against the wall, with padded benches, the padded faded and torn in places.

On the right of the aisle, there were three tables, designed to seat at least ten. If you entered at the door and turned right immediately, you would see three more game machines: a speed boat racing game, Pirates of the Caribbean pinball, and a car racing game. There were various TVs placed high on the wall around the room, and a flat screen above the shelves where the drinks are at the bar, so people sitting there could watch.

"Adam!" The store's owner and Adam's best friend, Corey, poked his head out of the kitchen. "Good to see you, buddy!" he said as he walked over. And then he saw Stella.

"Oooo, who's this?" he asked teasingly, like grade sixes would ask each other if they were dating someone. Adam groaned.

"Corey, could you find us a table, please?" he asked, ignoring the question.

"I just want her name," Corey whined. He could be such a child sometimes. He seemed to realize something. "Wait, is this... Stella? From your work?"

"Yes, Corey, it is," Adam muttered. "Can we please just get a table?"

Corey sighed. "Fine, ruin all my fun. Booth or table?"

Adam looked to Stella, who had not spoken during this entire exchange, but had an amused smile on her face. "It's your call. Where do you want to sit?" he asked her.

"Booth, please," she said politely, but still had that smile on her face. Corey led them to a booth, sat them down, and gave them menus.

"Lauren will be here momentarily," Corey said, and winked.

After he had left, Stella asked, "Who's Lauren?" Adam sighed and blushed a little.

"She's a waitress here." He gave her the answer she had asked for, nothing more.

"But why did Corey wink when he left?" Adam sighed again. If he didn't tell her, Corey sure would.

"Well... I used to have a little bit of a crush on her," he said, looking at the wooden table, with its many marks in it. He examined one two teenagers had scratched out, probably with their forks: A+S. Adam blushed...again, and looked back up at Stella. She had a slight smile on her face, a friendly one. If she had laughed at him, then she sure as hell was a silent laugher.

He realized he had been looking at her for a while, and it got a little awkward. "So," he said, clearing his throat and looking away. "What do you want to drink?" She shrugged and opened her menu in front of her face. Adam did the same. He scanned down the list of exotic drinks, beers, and wines. He'd just end up having a beer anyway, but maybe he could mix it up a little.

"I think I'll have some red wine." He heard Stella's voice from behind his menu. He put his menu down and saw that she had done the same, but was still looking down at it.

He chuckled a bit. "I wouldn't," he said. She looked up at him quizzicaly "Corey once told me that he opens them up and puts a 'secret ingredient' in them, to make them taste better."

Stella looked back up, her eyebrows slightly pulled together. "What's the secret ingredient?" she asked.

He shrugged. "I have no idea. But I never had wine here again after that." Stella giggled a little. He glowed inside. She was laughing with him, not at him.

Just then, Lauren arrived, notepad in hand. "Hey, Adam." She smiled. Her teeth were straight and white. She had flowing, caramel-brown hair down to about armpit level, and was about the same age as him and Corey, but her parents were rich, so she'd quit her job to work as a waitress about three years ago.

Adam smiled sheepishly. "Hey, Lauren," he said. "Uh, this is my friend, Stella." He gestured to her. Stella smiled and said hi. Lauren smiled and nodded.

"So," Lauren said, poising her pen on her notepad, ready to take their order. "What'll you have to drink? Adam, the usual?" she asked, looking at him. He always had the same thing when he went to Corey's restaurant: a beer.

"Please." He nodded.

"And you?" Lauren asked, turning to Stella. "What'll it be?"

Clearly, she still hadn't decided. So, she just bit her lip and said, "I'll have what he's having." She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. He grinned.

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**Hope you liked that chapter! I know I'm a really slow writer, but I've been really busy. As proof of my slowness, when Stella and Adam were in the taxi, I twice mentioned the date: August in New York, and Hurricane Bill. Hurricane Bill was going on when I was writing that part, and I knew it was hitting New York, so I just decided to throw that in there. Hopefully my next chapter won't take so long...**

**REVIEW!! Thanks.**


	3. Chapter 3

After Lauren had left, promising their drinks as soon as possible, it was silent. Stella was looking around the restaurant, never laying eyes on Adam. He decided he should start some small talk, and this time, _not _about Flack. He briefly considered asking her _why _she even came, but that thought was thrown away almost instantly. No reason to scare her away. It didn't even matter why, as long as she was here. He had a thought that made his heart turn to ice. What if this was a practical joke? What if Stella and Flack were making fun of him? What if Stella only said yes because she wanted to see him mess up even more? He glanced over at her. She was still looking around innocently. Suddenly, he wanted to be anywhere than there.

He stood abruptly. "I have to use the bathroom," he said. Stella looked at him, nodded, and smiled. "Okay," she said, "Just don't be too long. Our drinks will be here soon." She watched him intently with her green eyes until he closed the door to the bathroom. He slid down the door and put his head between his knees, running his hands through his hair.

"What am I going to do?" he whispered, head in his hands. He was probably just overreacting; Stella had never been known to be mean. But after what had happened the previous day, Adam wasn't so sure.

He felt a push behind his back. He realized he was still sitting in front of the door, blocking it. Someone pounded on the door. "Let me in!" they yelled. _Wow, no need to freak out, _he thought. He stood and the man burst through the door. He gave Adam a glare before hastily making his way over to the urinals. Adam sighed and figured he should leave. He took a deep breath and tried to look pleasant.

Lauren was already at the table, chatting and laughing with Stella. Adam immediately jumped to conclusions and thought they were talking about him. His confidence crushed, he sat down at the table and put his elbows on the table with his head in his hands.

"Hey, Adam," Lauren said again. "Me and Stella were just talking about Corey's 'secret' red wine." She laughed lightly. "I'd never heard that before."

"Yeah, he told me," Adam muttered, head still in his hands, looking down at the table, avoiding the A+S.

"What's up, Adam?" Stella asked, looking at him, concerned. "You seem upset." His heart lifted a little. Maybe she came because she actually _wanted _to. His head lifted with his heart. He took his elbows off the table.

"Nothing," he said quickly. "What are you going to have to eat?" He glanced at the menu again. He was probably going to have what he always had here (again); a basket of fries and a half pound of wings.

"Um..." Stella said, reading her menu. "I'll have... a Cesar salad."

"Alright," Lauren said, nodding. "And Adam? Your usual?"

"Uh, yeah," he said, also nodding and handing her his menu. She took Stella's as well and walked away. He bit his lip. Not more awkward silence. Last time it was only for about a minute, but the food was going to take much longer.

* * *

After dinner was eaten, and Lauren had just cleared away their plates, Adam looked out the window. It was still pouring rain outside, and since no cabs drove past this area, they would have to call for one.

"Anything else?" Lauren arrived again. He and Stella shook their heads.

"Just the bill. Thanks, Lauren." She left again.

"I might as well call for a cab now," Stella said, taking out her phone and dialling the number. He heard only one end of the conversation.

"Can we have a cab-?"

"Really?"

"Oh. Well, thanks anyway." She hung up. "No more cabs. Apparently everyone's using them tonight."

Adam had never heard of a time where there were no more cabs in New York City. He was actually a bit stunned.

* * *

"Alright, here's your bill," Lauren said as she handed it to Adam. He gave it back and handed her his credit card. She took it, and came back within minutes with his card.

"You guys got a cab? The rain looks pretty bad out there," Lauren commented.

Stella shook her head. "The cabs are all out. I guess we're going to have to walk until we can find another one. I don't mind getting a little wet." She turned to Adam. "Do you?"

He bit his lip. He actually _did _mind getting wet, but he could spend a lot of time with her, and the rain would feel so good on his suddenly hot skin as Lauren and Stella stared at him. He hesitated, then shook his head.

"Great." Stella smiled. "It'll be fun," she said enthusiastically. Adam smiled as well, standing. She did the same.

"I could probably give you ride," Lauren offered. He found it kind of odd that she was doing this. Sure, they were friends, but they had exchanged little words. And most of the time, she just gave him his order, then went off to go talk to the other customers.

"No, thanks," Stella said quickly, before he could respond. "We can take care of ourselves," she said, a little rudely. Adam wondered why everyone was acting so strange. Lauren had never paid this kind of attention to him, and Stella was never this rude to people she hardly knew. He figured they were both a bit PMS-y. Well, maybe not Lauren. Maybe she was just in a helping mood.

Stella gestured to him that they should leave. He nodded, waved goodbye to Lauren, and they were out the door into the pummelling rain.

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**_Very _short chapter, sorry about that. I figured that since it took me so long to do this, you guys deserved an update.**

**Reviews much appreciated**


	4. Chapter 4

**This chapter is going to be a bit different; it's in Adam's POV (and Stella's later on). Enjoy!**

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**Adam's POV:**

I think the rain got worse as Stella and I were sitting inside that restaurant. It was absolutely pouring, and I couldn't see five feet in front of my face. If Stella hadn't been standing next to me, I wouldn't be able to see her either. We could very easily get lost in rain like this. In fact, how were we going to find our way back to the city? I couldn't even see the road, let alone the signs and names of streets.

"I think we should just wait until more cabs are available, or get that ride Lauren mentioned," I yelled. The rain was extremely loud. I looked over at her. She shook her head.

"We can make it," she yelled as well. I wondered why she didn't want to just get a ride from Lauren. I suddenly decided to interrogate her, if she could even hear me. Or maybe she'd just pretend she couldn't.

"Why don't you just want to get a ride from Lauren?" I asked her, rather bravely. My consolation is that she couldn't fire me. Or could she? No, I was pretty sure I couldn't get fired for asking a question unrelated to work.

She just shrugged and started walking. Reluctantly, I followed her. Disappointed I didn't get a better answer from her, I trudged along slowly, looking at my feet. After a while, I looked up, and was panicked to see Stella was no longer in front of me. I stopped walking, and spun around wildly, looking for her. I called out for her, but got no answer. I pulled out my cellphone, intending to text her, and was mortified to see there was no service.

"Stella!" I called again. I felt a hand on my shoulder, which caused me to jump and whip my body around, adrenaline pumping through my viens.

It was Stella, laughing. "You should have seen your face!" she giggled.

Surpisingly, I got mad. "That _was not_ funny, Stella," I growled. Her smile, still lingering, faded away. I realized what I had done, and muttered an apology, but she probably didn't hear me. She actually looked kind of ridiculous. Her hair, normally full of volume, was wet and plastered to her head, and her makeup ran down her face.

The rain was starting to clear up a bit. I could just make out a bus stop on the other side of the road. Maybe we could catch the bus back to the city.

"There's a bus stop on the other side of the road," I told Stella. She nodded and started crossing the road. I followed behind her, looking left down the road for any oncoming cars. Unfortunately, by the time I looked right, it was almost too late.

I spotted the headlights first. Even though the rain was starting to clear, I could still only see about twenty feet, but the headlights penetrated through the rain. I could practically see each drop as it fell in front of the lights. Then my brain started working again. If I could just barely make out the headlights, then the driver of the car wouldn't be able to see either me or Stella before-

Stella! She was just in the middle of the right lane, in the direction the car was coming. Apparently she had seen the car, too. She was frozen to the spot, eyes wide and staring. A deer caught in the headlights.

"Stella!" I screamed desperately. The car was coming up fast, and she was directly in the path of it. She turned her head slowly when I called her name, eyes pleading. I made my decision.

With a loud yell, I ran out to the middle of the road and pushed her out of the way. The car was about twenty feet away, and could see both of us now.

My last thought was _Stella's okay_. Then everything went black.

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**Stella's POV:**

Why was I such a coward? I just stood there. I couldn't move. All I could see was those lights.

"Stella!" I heard a desperate cry. Slowly, as if in a dream, I turned my head. Adam had called me, and was standing on the curb, waving his arms. I couldn't move, I couldn't speak. I was frozen. I seemed to be in control of only my eyes. I tried to tell him with my eyes.

Adam slowly stopped waving his arms. With a loud yell, he ran towards me. What was he doing? Then it all became clear as he violently shoved me out of the way of the quickly approaching car. I landed hard on my back, but sat up immediately to see what happened. I was still a little dazed, and not quite comprehending what was happening.

The car was almost upon him. The driver suddenly appeared to be paying attention to the road; I saw red brake lights. But it was too late.

Adam flew through the air. "No!" I screamed, reaching out a hand as if to catch him. He hit the ground with a dull thud that I shouldn't have heard through the rain.

The car skidded to a stop and a man got out. He didn't appear to notice me. He looked around for what he had hit, then realizing it was a person, sprinted to Adam's lifeless body. I shuddered and closed my eyes. It was taking all my willpower not to get up, get into the man's car and run _him _over.

I opened my eyes again. He turned, and I saw his face for the first time. He had a variety of emotions on his face. Worry, fear, hopelessness. Then he spotted me sitting about two feet away from where I had been standing before I was saved.

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**Short chapter, huh? But there was so much action packed into that, it was worth it, right? Good things come in small packages!**

**I think that was my fastest update in my history of updates. I'm so proud!**

**Anyway, REVIEW! Thanks!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Okay, this chapter is going to be _really_ short, but it's just a little blurb on Adam. If you didn't guess, it's basically from his POV.**

_PAIN. That was all I felt. I couldn't move, couldn't open my eyes, couldn't hear. All I could feel was the PAIN. First it was in my head. It felt like someone was cutting it in half with a chainsaw. Then it spread to my chest. Every time I took a breath it felt like my lungs were getting set on fire. Not to mention the fact that it felt like thorns were poking into them whenever I breathed in._

_I began to get a bit of my hearing back. First all I heard was rain, then I heard a voice calling my name, over and over. I didn't know if it was real or it was just my imagination, trying to distract me. It was cut off as the PAIN spread to the tips of my fingers. I begged silently for unconciousness, even death. Any thing would be better than this PAIN. _

_I was still lying there, not moving. I couldn't move. Well, if I could, I didn't try. If I moved, then the PAIN was surely going to get worse. I didn't need to move for it to get worse. It spread to my stomach. Felt like I had swallowed a gallon of acid. I tried counting my breaths to distract myself. It kind of worked. After about twenty breaths, the PAIN started to ebb. I was kind of pleased it didn't spread past my waist._

_Then I slept._

**That's it until I can come up with another chapter. Which probably won't take too long. I'm going to start working on it as soon as i post this.**

**REVIEW PLEASE!!!**

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	6. Chapter 6

**Stella's POV:**

The man looked at me for a few seconds. He had brown hair, soaked dark from the rain, deep wrinkles on his forehead, was wearing a suit, unbuttoned. The tie was undone.

I opened my mouth to say something, and that seemed to snap him back into reality. He ran to his car, jumped in, started it, and drove away. I sprang to my feet, furious. How could he drive away? I tried to chase after the car; I still wasn't thinking very clearly. I stopped in my tracks when I noticed him lying there. I slowly walked over -how could I walk so slowly?- and stood there for a moment, just staring. I couldn't believe what had just happened. I stood there, stunned, then sank to my knees and sobbed.

"Oh, Adam," I sobbed as I looked at his broken body lying there, unmoving. I sat cross-legged and cradled his head in my lap. For some reason, I didn't want to call anyone. I thought that if I called anyone they would take him away and he wouldn't come back.

After a few minutes, I sighed and knew I had to call someone or he would die. It was funny, I dealt with death every day yet never knew how it felt to be a part of it. But now I did. And I had to stop it before it could take my friend. I sighed again and took out my cell. Tears leaked from the corners of my eyes when I saw those three little words on the screen: SEARCHING FOR SERVICE. I gave a little cry of anguish, and looked up. It was still raining. Rain, rain and more rain.

"Rain, rain, go to Spain," I muttered under my breath. What I wouldn't give to hear Adam laugh at that. I looked back down at him. He looked like he was sleeping. I knew I had to go find help, but I couldn't tear my eyes away from his face. He had a trickle of blood running from the corner of his mouth, streaked from the rain. I wiped it up with my hand and held it out a little to the side, watching the rain wash away the blood from my hand and down my arm.

Going to find help was still nagging at the back of my mind. I looked around. There were houses all around us, on either side of the street. But what could I do? I couldn't carry Adam to any of the houses, and I couldn't leave him lying there while I went to get someone. My only option was to drag him to the sidewalk, leave him in the gutter, and ring on a doorbell. But that was so undignified, it was unbelievable. But it was the only thing I could do.

Pulling myself to my feet, I went to Adam's shoulders, grabbed him under the armpits, and started to pull. Almost immediately one of the heels on my shoes broke. I kicked both of them off and continued. It took less time than I expected it to take; the ground was slick from the rain and made it easy to pull.

When I got to the edge of the road, I tried pulling Adam up onto the sidewalk, so at least he wouldn't be stuck in the ground. But gravity won out and I had no choice but to leave Adam in the gutter. Tears leaked out of my eyes again as I saw him lying there. As I watched, he groaned and stirred a little. I practically leaped off the sidewalk onto the road, and shook him gently by the shoulders, calling his name.

"Adam? Oh, Adam, wake up. Please just _wake up_," I whipered as I nudged him.

His eyelids fluttered open. I gasped and my tears of sadness turned into those of joy. I leaned down and hugged him tightly. He groaned. "Ease up, Stella," he muttered.

I sat up again and sobbed. "You're okay," I said.

He winced. "I wouldn't quite say that." I nodded and took out my cell again. I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw I had reception. I quickly dialled 9,1... but stopped. I would need someone with more understanding. I ended the call and dialled 2, my second speed dial.

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**Flack's POV: **

I sat at my desk, doing paperwork. Still. Ever since I had felt well enough to come to work two hours ago, I had been doing it non stop. I glanced up to see Mac walking by. He stopped in front of my desk and nodded a greeting.

"Hey, Don. Thought you were sick?" he asked.

"Yeah, I was, today," I replied. "I felt well enough to come in, but I would've stayed home if paperwork was all that was waiting for me here," I said, gesturing to the paper mound. Mac opened his mouth to reply to my comment, but my cellphone cut him off.

"Hold on, I have to get this," I told him. One look at the screen told me enough to answer-it was Stella.

"Hey, Stel, what's up? I was..." I trailed off as I heard how panicked she sounded on the other end of the phone. I actually couldn't understand her, she was talking so fast.

"Okay, Stella, calm down," I coaxed into the phone. "Just slow down and tell me what's wrong."

There was a pause. I could almost picture her biting her lip.

"Oh Flack," Stella whispered. "Something really bad has happened."

"What? What is it? Where are you?" I asked, getting worried.

"I _don't know_ where I am!" she cried. "I can't see the names of the streets and I've never been here before!"

"So, you're lost?" I asked, hoping that was all. "That's the bad thing?"

"No!" she said, surprising me a bit at how forceful her tone was.

"Calm down," I said again, hoping she wouldn't tell me anything too bad.

"I won't calm down!" she practically screamed into the phone. "I _can't_!"

"What happened?!" I asked her, raising my voice slightly.

"It's Adam!"

I was surprised. "Adam?"

"Yes," she sighed. "He..." she trailed off.

"Why are you with Adam?" I asked, starting to get suspicious. "And what's going on?"

"You're not listening to me!" She yelled. I blinked. How could she say that when she hadn't even told me anything?

"He's hurt!" I instincively put my hand on my right hip. "Send an ambulance or _something_!"

"But I don't know where you are, remember? Try and find a sign of some sort or ask someone who lives around there where you are."

There was a pause again and I could hear some sort of pounding in the background that sounded like loud static.

"I can't see the sign; it's raining too hard!" she said frantically, and I knew what the pounding noise was; rain.

"Oh, wait... I can see the words." She paused again and I could hear her muttering, trying to figure out what it said.

"I think it says Appleby Cresent," she said finally.

"Ok. Hold on, Mac is standing right in front of me. I have to tell him." I held the phone to my chest and began to tell Mac what I had just heard.

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**Good chapter? I am seriously considering deleting this story; I feel like no one's reading it. And I haven't really had time to update much, sorry about that for those of you who do read.**

**Review!**


	7. Chapter 7

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Aha sorry if I made it seem like I was begging for reviews or whatever last chapter. I just thought I was getting no where and wanted some positive comments :). So thanks to all of you who reviewed.

**Anyway, on to the next chapter.**

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**Stella's POV:**

I hung up the phone after Flack had told me he was on his way. I looked back down at Adam and sighed, smiling a bit. He smiled faintly back.

Adam coughed a few times and winced. I jolted back to him and remembered he was still hurt.

"Oh, Adam, where does it hurt?" I asked leaning over him again.

"My chest," he groaned. "There's thorns sticking into my lungs."

I nodded. Probably broken ribs. If that was the worst he had, then he was really lucky. He _had _said it felt like there was thorns sticking into his lungs. That could mean internal bleeding. If he had that, it would be bad.

"Damn, Flack, hurry up," I muttered. Adam perked up a bit at that and tried to sit up, but groaned and sank back down again, resorting to talking.

"Flack's coming?" he asked, looking a bit nervous, despite all the scratches and blood on his face.

I nodded again. "Who else would I call?"

Adam laughed weakly at this, but halfway through started a brief fit of coughing. I bit my lip nervously and checked to see if any blood had come out during his episode. Good. None.

"I don't know, maybe 911?" he said in answer to my question. His voice was weaker and I had to bend closer to his face to hear what he was saying.

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**Adam's POV:**

This was it. Stella was inches away from my face, and even though I was bruised and bleeding, I had to tell her now. I took a deep breath in- big mistake- and started to talk, but stopped when I heard sirens.

Stella gasped and looked up, pulling away from my face. I cursed under my breath. Could we ever have any time?

An ambulance, two squad cars, and Mac's SUV pulled around the corner. Stella breathed a sigh of relief and started to rise, but hesitated. She looked back down and me, head cradled in her lap still, and stopped moving.

The vehicles skidded to a stop about ten feet in front of us. Flack jumped out of one of the squad cars and I bit back a groan. How were we ever going to explain this to him?

Mac was the second out of his car, slamming the door shut and yelling at the paramedics to hurry up, didn't they see I was hurt?

Hawkes climbed a bit more slowly out of the passenger seat of the SUV. He closed the door carefully and walked over to the ambulance to see if they needed any help.

Flack raced over to where I was laying and Stella was kneeling. He didn't say anything before the paramedics could get there with a stretcher. Two rushed over to me and told Stella to stand back; they could take it from here. She just nodded and stood, but not before lowering my head gently onto the wet pavement. Flack hurridly led her off towards one of the squad cars, talking to her.

The paramedics busily loaded me onto the stretcher. I winced as they handled my ribs. And my arms and head hurt too. What was odd was my legs didn't hurt at all.

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**Stella's POV:**

"What are you doing here, Stella?" Flack demanded as he led me away through the rain. "Why are you here... with Adam?"

"Just two friends going out to dinner," I said strongly. I knew what he was trying to do. He did it automatically, without really trying. He was interrogating me. I had seen enough of him to know that.

Flack sighed and nodded. "Alright, I believe you."

Instead of calming me down or whatever he was trying to do, it got me fired up. "You _believe me?_" I said loudly. "What's not to believe? It's not like we were going out or anything. I mean come on, _you're _my boyfriend, not Adam." My voice was getting louder with every word. It really pissed me off how he could just think I would go and do something like that. "How could you think I would go and do something like that?" I practically yelled, repeating my thoughts.

He blinked, surprised by my reaction. "You're right... I'm sorry." I nodded and looked away. I suddenly felt guilty for yelling.

I hesitated, then continued slowly, choosing each work carefully. "But... why _did _you say that?" I studied his face. In the dim light, his soaked face was growing red. I smirked, then prodded his arm. "Were you jealous?" I teased.

He blushed again. "No!" he said forcefully. I laughed. "You _so _were."

But my laughter faded. How could anyone laugh when Adam was so hurt? I didn't even know how if he was okay! I was such a bad friend.

I whirled round to see where they were taking Adam. I saw them loading him into the ambulance, strapped to a stretcher. I hurried after them, but Flack grabbed my arm.

"You can't go over there," he said gently. I rounded on him, my temper flaring again. He shrank back slightly, and his grip on my arm loosened. But I relaxed, and sighed, looking back to the ambulance.

Flack sensed how upset I was. "It's okay, Mac's in the ambulance with him." That made me feel a bit better, but why wasn't _I_ in there? I watched, helpless, as it drove away, sirens wailing and lights flashing.

That made me break down. He was gone, and I didn't think he was coming back. Tears ran down my already dripping face, and I wailed in sadness. Flack pulled me into a hug and soothed me, stroking my soaked hair.

"Shh," he coaxed.

"He's gone," I wailed into his shirt, sobbing. "He's gone and he's never coming back."

"Of course he is!" Flack said, remaining positive. I pulled back, sniffing. "You really think so?" I said, still sobbing a bit.

"I know so," he said firmly. The tears faded and I stepped back. Flack immediately went into cop mode, asking me what happened.

"Well, we were walking home. Don't ask why," I added as he opened his mouth. He nodded and closed it again.

I told him all that had happened, from when Adam pushed me out of the way to when Flack had arrived. He nodded and occasionally wrote things down on his note pad, but gave up after it got wet. He just tucked it back into his pocket and listened the whole time.

I finished with a huff. "Are you sure you're going to remember all that?" I asked, raising my eyebrows. He tapped his temple with his index finger. "Got it all in here, Stel." I smiled a bit.

"Why do you think he pushed you out of the way?" he asked, face hard.

I shrugged. "Instinct, I guess. I mean, I was just standing there. I couldn't move at all." Flack didn't look so convinced.

He couldn't say any more, because Hawkes had walked up to us. "Hey guys," he said sadly. "I just heard what happened." Flack nodded his head. I didn't say anything, just stood there.

Why couldn't Flack just _get over_ the fact that I went to dinner with Adam? He was so pig-headed sometimes.

I was pulled out of my thoughts by the mention of my name. "...and Stella was just telling me what happened," Flack was saying. I nodded, pretending I was paying attention.

In case Hawkes wanted me to start my story again, I wandered to the SUV and checked in the driver's side window. The keys were in the ignition.

"What are you doing?" I jumped. I could tell from his voice Flack was standing behind me, though I didn't turn around, just stood with my forehead pressed against the wet window.

I shook my head. "I've been through so much today-" It was true; it felt like years ago I had gotten into that taxi. "-don't tell me I can't. I want to go see Adam."

I turned when he didn't answer. He was gone. I was surprised, and felt a bit... alone.

Thinking I might as well and Flack could call me if he wanted to know where I was, I climbed into the Suburban and drove off in the direction the ambulance had gone.

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**I have a few things to say... first, I'm taking off the lyrics. The story name will stay the same, but it's not a songfic anymore. It's just a story.**

**Second, I have no idea what hospitals are in New York City and I'm too lazy to look it up, so I'm going to make up my own and call it Mountview Hospital (threw that together in about ten seconds).**

**Third, review please! :)**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hmm the last chapter took almost 24 hours to be posted and an email sent to me... Oh well. Thanks to all you who have favourited/added to your alerts/reviewed, etc. It's people like you who keep me going on this story! :D**

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**Stella's POV:**

As I drove along the roads, I realized I had no idea where I was going. I sighed; I was going to have to call someone. Mac was the obvious choice; he had been in the ambulance, but I looked down and saw his cellphone sitting in one of the cup holders.

I glanced in my rear-view mirror and saw Flack driving behind me. Or at least I _thought _it was him; I couldn't see through the window, but it was a squad car. I squinted, trying to make out distinguishing features of the driver. As I was doing that, I also didn't have my eyes focused on the road; I ran a stop sign. I looked back at the road and decided to call him.

The phone rang a couple times before he picked up. "Hello?" he said innocently.

"As if you don't know it's me," I growled. "Are you driving behind me?"

"Er.. yeah. I thought I should, because you don't know where you're going." Trust him to think of an excuse like that. Well, it wasn't really an excuse, it was the truth, but how did he know I didn't know where I was going?

"What if I _do _know where I'm going?" I negotiated.

"Well, if you do, I don't need to show you where to go," he said.

I sighed. "Alright, I _don't _know where I'm going," I said, giving in.

"Good," he said triumphantly. "Slow down and let me pass you."

"Fine," I said grudgingly. I hung up and obeyed, braking slowly. The cruiser pulled up beside me, then as I slowed down, passed me. I took my foot off the brake and accelerated, catching up to Flack's car.

We drove through the quiet streets for a few minutes, then got into the city. I bit my lip, hoping I wasn't going to lose the squad car in traffic. But apparently the rain had scared everyone away. There were only a few cars sharing the road with us, and I was able to follow my boyfriend with ease.

My phone vibrated; Flack had texted me. _Turn your sirens on_, it said.

I replied: _Why? There's not a lot of cars to get it our way._

The answer came through thirty seconds later: _We're in a hurry, aren't we? Just do it._

_Fine_, I answered, flicking on my lights only. Didn't need the sound, but Flack went all out, sirens and everything. I rolled my eyes.

We arrived at the hospital faster than we normally would have, but that was only because of the sirens. I glanced at the sign on the entrance to the Emergency room: Mountview Hospital. I had never been here before and was a bit lost after Flack and I had wandered the corridors for a few minutes.

"Why don't we just go ask for directions?" I asked, glancing sideways at him.


End file.
